Shyanne Mortimer

How to have a cute Valentine’s Day on a budget

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Asking students around campus their affordable  Valentine’s Day plans

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching with the arrival of red hearts, roses, candy and pink decorations. Whether you are in a relationship or simply looking to have a fun day with your best friends, it’s time to celebrate love with the most important people in your life. If you don’t want to have another night at home watching Rom-Coms for the third year in a row, but you also don’t want to break the bank, here are a few ideas for a fun night while staying on a college student’s budget.

If you are wanting to try something new with your significant other, try Color Me Mine in River Park! They always offer great deals for holidays, such as no studio fee, and it’s fun getting to make something special. 

For those who are competitive, then an escape room is the place for you. Fresno and Clovis have 3 escape rooms between the two cities and each room can hold up to 7 people. An escape room can average out to about $27 per person, which can be expensive, but there can be tricks to saving!

Sophomore psychology major, Jaalyn Sotoa-Stuebing, intends to spend her Valentine’s Day with her boyfriend, Trent Greene, offered her own words of advice. 

“Because of school and practice we will most likely exchange gifts during the day and go to a nice dinner at night,” Sotoa-Stuebing said.

As we head towards the month of February, Sotoa-Stuebing doesn’t let her budget stop her from gifting her boyfriend a special gift or evening. 

“I save up a few months ahead of time so that I have a bigger budget for myself. I’m hoping to save for one gift that he will truly appreciate with a heartfelt letter, because I’m a quality-over-quantity person,” Sotoa-Stuebing said.

While going out can be fun, it just isn’t for everyone. For those who enjoy a nice evening in and want to have a special night, food, movies and a face mask might be the best way to go. Me-n-Ed’s makes heart-shaped pizzas this one night of the year, and if you add in a Lush face mask with a themed movie night, it is the perfect way to have fun while also winding down from the week.

Junior psychology major, Destiny Estrada, reflects on both past Valentine’s Day plans and gifts as she starts preparing for next month. 

“Last year I had a game night in with my girl friends as we watched movies and made dinner together. It was simple yet really fun,” Estrada said.

She looks forward to this year as she plans on celebrating with her new boyfriend, Andrew, while staying on her budget. 

“I give myself a budget of what I feel is right and I don’t allow myself to go over. I make it work,” Estrada said.

While being single on a holiday may not sound like a good time, Freshman business finance major Grant Highstreet, feels otherwise. 

“I feel good about being alone. I’m just living and I love FPU, so I know I’ll have a good time that day,” Highstreet said.

Straying away from the traditional Hallmark night, Highstreet has different ways to enjoy his night in. 

“My plans for Valentine’s Day consist of sitting in my room on my Xbox, playing 2k with my friends. If I were with my friends from back home, though, we would normally do some type of outdoor activity like ping pong,” Highstreet said. 

For those also looking for outdoor adventures, Yosemite is only an hour and a half drive from FPU. If you want to get away from campus for the day or have never been, this is a good time to go. 

But if you have school, work, or practice all day and can’t leave but still want a piece of the outdoor life, the Downing Planetarium is an excellent place to go. It is $5 for students and is located at Fresno State, easily accessible for locals and college students. 

Although Valentine’s Day can be one of the most romantic holidays of the year,  it can also be one of the best excuses to eat chocolate and enjoy quality time with your best friends. Even if you’re on a budget, there is no reason to have anything less than a memorable and love-filled Valentine’s Day, because what’s truly important is that you spend it with those you love and who love you back. Also, remember to stop by any store on February 15th for some delicious marked-down chocolate, of course!

JeffreeStar x ShaneDawson Conspiracy Collection surpasses records

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In less than a week over 1.1 million palettes sold amid technical difficulties, release-day drama 

On October 1st, Shane Dawson once again took to YouTube to create yet another series with Jeffree Star. With past series including features of other pop culture figures like Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul, this series, entitled “The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star,” set out to highlight elements of the beauty/makeup community that have been kept under wraps from consumers.

Including topics like cost of production, upcharging, and the ways big companies have taken advantage of consumers and collaborators, it was evident after the first episode that this series would be far different than Dawson’s previous work. While elements of Star’s life and career had been present in the series, the focus became more about what goes into making and selling makeup and what the consumer doesn’t always see.

On November 6th, Star announced on Instagram that, to date, over 1.1 million palettes had been sold.

Dawson, an individual with little to no experience with makeup or the community around it, set out for a large task: to learn the ins and outs of the beauty community by producing his own makeup line in collaboration with Star’s cosmetic company, Jeffree Star Cosmetics. 

The seven-part series (and counting), which was pre-filmed over the course of a year, covers everything from the first pitch meeting of Dawson’s collection to design elements, creation of colors, color names, merchandise, etc. 

Although the series was well received by fans, moving to the #1 trending video on YouTube after every release of an episode, no one was prepared for the pandemonium that ensued on November 1st, the day the “Conspiracy Collection” was released worldwide. The palette was set to be available at select locations including Morphe stores across the country, and select websites including jeffreestarcosmetics.com and beautybay.com. 

Those who opted to purchase online were faced with a series of technical difficulties upon the collection’s release at 10am. Before a minute had passed, the entire website crashed and most fans were at a standstill, unable to even get to the products page. For those who were able to view the products, the products couldn’t be moved into the cart and checkout couldn’t be completed.

After these technical difficulties became the number-one trending topic, Star took to Twitter and Instagram to update frustrated fans about what exactly was causing the website to glitch so significantly. “You guys CRASHED the site! … Working on getting everything back up!!!” Star wrote. 

He later took to Instagram stories, saying, “Thousands of people are being checked out every 30 seconds, but it still isn’t fast enough to accommodate everyone.”

Due to the amount of traffic on the site, some products weren’t able to post with the other products at 10am, and weren’t posted until later that afternoon. Despite the technical difficulties, every unit of the Conspiracy Collection sold out online in under five hours (this includes the time the website was down and purchases were unable to be completed).

Meanwhile, on store fronts, the chaos was exactly what you would expect. Fans took to Twitter and Instagram to share posts of the lines at Morphe stores all throughout the United States. In some cases, these lines were miles long. Knowing the product was in such high demand led many to camp out overnight in front of stores, waiting as little as two hours or as long as 14.

The Fresno Morphe store experienced the same amount of chaos. Beginning at the Ulta, the line went past multiple store fronts, extending for roughly half of a mile. This led to the arrival of many mall security officers, who rushed outside to manage and maintain the lines in an attempt to avoid fire hazards.

By 2pm, the collection in its entirety had sold out. Dawson took to Instagram, saying, “I can’t believe it. Everything in the Conspiracy Collection sold out. I can’t believe how supportive you guys have been through this. I genuinely can’t put into words how overwhelmed I’m feeling. We’re internet dinosaurs and the fact that you guys are still there for us is insane.”

On November 6th, Star announced on Instagram that, to date, over 1.1 million palettes had been sold. Star and Dawson plan to continue this collaboration as a permanent collection with Jeffree Star Cosmetics. And for those who were unable to buy products from the collection before they sold out, no need to worry! The pair has made an official announcement that upcoming restocks are planned for release in early 2020. 

The series will continue on Dawson’s YouTube channel, with upcoming episodes covering release-day drama and more information about the future of this collaboration.

Abigail Brown | Editor-in-Chief

Shyanne Mortimer | Staff Writer